Auditory prostheses have been very successful in providing a percept of hearing, and accompanying speech perception, for sufferers of hearing impairment. Such prostheses include cochlear implants, brain stem implants, hearing aids, middle ear implants, and devices that combine electric and acoustic or mechanical stimulation,
Sound processing strategies for auditory prostheses have tended to focus on speech, as it is the most important aspect for the user. However, it is also important to provide satisfactory performance for other sounds, particularly music. Applying conventional speech processing strategies to a musical performance does not generally produce a satisfactory result. For speech, relatively little information is required to enable at least a degree of understanding. In contrast, music typically has many simultaneous elements, all of which interact to produce a harmonious whole. This complexity cannot be reproduced by conventional speech processing strategies, and the result of applying such an approach to music does not create a satisfactory percept for most users. Some cochlear implant users have reported reasonably satisfactory outcomes where relatively simple music is concerned.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sound processing strategy which provides improved performance for music for users of auditory prostheses.